2021 has proven to be another successful year for motorcycle sales, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Not only have manufacturers like Ducati set record sales figures, countries like Japan have shipped the most motorcycles in the past 23 years. Now the UK and Australia are reporting similar sales figures in 2021.
Starting with Britain, sales of motorcycles and scooters reached 114,371 units last year, marking the country’s best annual two-wheeler sales since 1996. 2020 sales by 9.3%, it also improves pre-pandemic performance, eclipsing 2019 sales statistics by 6.5%.
Naked bikes accounted for the bulk of sales with 24,398 units moved, but registered adventure bikes rose 19.6% to 19,761 units. Modern classics also sold well in 2021, with 10,717 units driving growth of 10.7% in the sector. Thanks to the expansion of clean air zones, delivery services and commuters, models between 51 and 125 cc performed best, accounting for 40,664 units sold.
Down Under was a completely different story. Australians bought 95,209 motorcycles and scooters in 2021. Of that total, off-road models accounted for 53,118 units sold, with the Honda CRF50 and CRF110 topping the small capacity category and the Yamaha YZ250F and WR450F topping the big motorcycles. Of course, the KTM, Kawasaki and Suzuki off-road models also performed well, leading to an 18.8% improvement in the segment compared to the same period in 2020.
Australian customers bought fewer road-going models with 37,270 sold in 2021, but this number represents a 6.8 increase over 2020 figures. The Honda CMX500 (Rebel 500) and Harley-Davidson Breakout were notable models last year, but the Yamaha MT-07 and Suzuki DR650L also made their mark.
The scooters recorded just 4,821 sales, but those numbers equate to an 8.1% increase over 2020. Unsurprisingly, Honda’s NSC110 led the pack in 2021. The UK and Australia have had another year of growth in 2021, and I hope both countries can carry that. dynamic in 2022.
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